


Oddly Endearing

by SafireLupe



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Coffee, Cute, F/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24410740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SafireLupe/pseuds/SafireLupe
Summary: Rivetra. One-shot."Tch. You women confuse the shit out of me. Good thing you make it cute, Petra.""Glad to have entertained you with my charm then, sir."Levi deals with a passive-aggressive Petra.
Relationships: Levi & Petra Ral, Levi/Petra Ral
Comments: 1
Kudos: 46





	Oddly Endearing

"You're cute when you're angry."

Petra glanced at him from behind her shoulder, one thin brow raised at his unusual statement.

"I'm not angry, sir."

Levi leaned back on his chair, arms crossed over his chest, as he continued to watch his subordinate. She had turned back to her previous task of filling up a mug with the coffee she brewed earlier. The silence that followed after her fairly neutral-toned reply was only broken by the sound of liquid pouring into porcelain. The sound seemed to echo over the stone walls of his room before returning to that stark silence that he normally would have appreciated, had it not been for the fact that the other presence in the room seemed to fill the air with antipathy.

Such an air coming from her was quite new to him. Levi was not a sensitive man – he could not care less what other people feel in regards to his words or actions. It's different with her though. Petra's emotions were like an open book that Levi could read from a mile away, and he has read every chapter… except for this one maybe.

It's not like he hasn't seen her mad before. Petra would be like a nagging mother to the rest of his squad, easily going on a tirade whenever they slack off cleaning duties (of which Levi appreciated, as it saved him from bursting an artery several times). She's particularly pissed off at Oruo, and would constantly wage in a war of words with him until the idiot ends up biting his tongue again. Beyond the walls, her eyes would gleam like burning embers as she adds another titan to her kill count. But all those had stemmed from either annoyance or fury, and she would always express it with either her sharp tongue or her sharp blades.

This time, however, Petra was…quiet. Yet Levi could tell that she was upset. Other than the fact that he could _practically feel it in the damn air_ , he could see it in the way she stood before him: Spine stiff as a board, like she was ready to salute any minute now. Levi did not miss the way she handled the kettle and the mug, raising and placing them back down on the tray with just a sliver of force. Her boots also made a louder sound as she walked towards him, almost as if she was stomping. Petra does not stomp. She was quick on her feet and walked as faint as a feline.

When she handed him his mug, the dark liquid swished within. And as Levi glanced up from the coffee to her face, she looked as stoic as he was, but her lower lip protruded slightly. It was oddly…endearing.

Hence his earlier statement.

 _Cute._ He doesn't use that word often, but it was the only word that he could use to describe her right now…even if she wasn't exactly exhibiting the textbook definition of the word. "Cute" should be Petra being her usual sweetheart self, with her giggling, and her humming while scribbling away her worries in another letter to her father. But right now, to his eyes, "cute" is passive-aggressive Petra Ral trying so very hard not to throw the steaming hot liquid on her captain's face.

He eyed her. "You're upset."

"I'm not, _captain._ "

"Levi." He corrected. They were alone.

"Captain."

There were some vice undertones on the way she said his title. He could hardly remember what the hell did he even say or do to cause her mood to drop. He figured that it probably had something to do with yesterday's combat training, since the silent treatment towards him began shortly after that event, but even after rattling his brain enough to give him a headache, he still couldn't recall a thing he did that would have upset her. He does, however, remember overhearing Erd talk about how his fiancé would sometimes get mad at him for reasons so small and insignificant that even he himself couldn't remember what he did wrong. "Women can be pretty strange," he had said, "One day they're all over you and the next their planning your demise." Erd had shuddered, recalling something unpleasant. He had not divulged what it was, but Gunther and Oruo had shared a nervous nod of understanding, while the naive brat Eren just blinked, utterly confused.

 _Maybe this is just one of those days then_ , Levi thought to himself, as he accepts the cup. Petra then took a seat on the chair beside him, scoot it closer to his desk, and began the task of reading through his paperwork. Meanwhile, Levi was glancing back and forth at his ginger-haired companion and the swirling dark liquid that is his coffee. _Planning your demise, huh._ He took a quick whiff at her brew. It didn't look nor smell anything different. Surely, Petra was not the type to dwell on petty vengeance.

Once again, he glanced up at her. She looked calmer now, concentrating on her work, but her lower lip was still slightly pouted, and based on the slight hollowing of the sides of her mouth he can assume that she was probably biting the insides of her cheeks. The gentle light of the candle at least gave her some softness. It was quite a sight to behold, really.

As much as Levi would like to continue admiring his lover struggling to compose her temper, he knows that he shouldn't allow this to boil. She already denied him her presence last night anyway.

Sighing, he lowers his mug onto the table.

"All right, Ral. What's your deal?"

"Nothing's wrong, sir."

"You're a horrible liar, Petra."

That surely got her attention. Petra had now turned to him with a raised brow. A pout was on her pink lips. Levi tried not to let his eyes linger there for too long, and instead turned boring eyes on the stacks of paper on his desk.

"Levi," She almost hissed, "I'm just…not in the mood right now, okay?"

He turned to her again and stared at her for a full minute, trying to read the look on her face. Her brows were furrowed at him, though she looked more exhausted than annoyed.

 _Let's just get this over with._ He sighs again, lowering his pride just a tad bit.

"Look, I'm sorry," he saw Petra's eyes widen at his sudden apology. He honestly still doesn't know what he did wrong, but this beats another sleepless night away from her. "Now stop being mad already," he added in a lower tone, as if he didn't want her to hear. _It's turning me on,_ he inwardly thought, glancing down on her pout.

She seemed to have perked her bottom lip some more after, but her eyes held an annoyed gaze, reminiscent of his own whenever Hange bothers him.

They sat in silence again, mirroring each other's exasperated expression.

"You have no idea what you're apologizing for, do you?"

Ah. She caught him.

He blinked at her twice, not responding.

She shook her head, still annoyed but at least there was finally a smile on her face. "Drink your coffee, Levi. It'll get cold and you still have a lot of papers to look over."

With a grunt, he leaned back on his chair. "Tch. You women confuse the shit out of me," he rolled his eyes before reaching for his mug, "Good thing you make it cute, Petra."

"Glad to have entertained you with my charm then, sir."

He watched her, eyes darkening, as the rim of his mug hovered over his lips. "I hope you'll continue to entertain me later as well, Ral."

"Of course. But only when you finish your coffee, Captain."

It sounded like a challenge. Levi smirked, took one big gulp of his warm drink, only to sputter it back after his tongue was overwhelmed by a combination of bitter and brine.

"What the fuck!?" He whipped his head to her and scowled at the accomplished grin on her face. "The hell did you put in this?"

"You're so cute when you're angry," Petra mocked him with a giggled and a twinkle in her amber eyes, "Better finish your coffee, Levi."

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was a prompt wherein I was requested to write a one-shot that started with the line "You're cute when you're angry." 
> 
> It was originally posted on my tumblr, so if you've lurked there for some Rivetra gold then you've probably seen this. However this version has been cleaned up a bit and I've added a few extra parts here and there. Overall, this was a really cute thing to write and I wanted to share it here.
> 
> And if you're wondering what Levi actually did to make her mad, I honestly don't know myself. I never thought of a reason and I think the mystery is part of what makes this story funny. It's open to anyone's imagination. What do you think caused our dear sweet Petra to infuse salt into his coffee? Let me know along with your review!


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